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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-03-13, Page 104 on The repair of the Lower Town dam became an issue at town council meeting again when Art Clark of A. W. Clark and AS - Sedates of VVingham presented a report to council members at the Monday, meeting. The report was in relation to application for a rebuilding permit to the Ministry of Natural Resources to authorize town council to start procedures. Mr. Clark explained the Ministry spokesman had set down three conditions to be fulfilled prior to approval of the permit. He said the Ministry wants "some assurance that the discharge capacity will be the same or somewhat better than what it was .. that's easy to do. The second, he wanted some assurance "that the same thing is not going to happen again." This latter condi- tion was greeted with laughter by council members, but Mr. Clark explained that the Ministry con- sidered the original damage to be caused by a "management prob- lem." "That, perhaps, would not be too much of a problem," Mr. Clark added, "but now comes the crunch. The Ministry wants full engineering drawings and the whole bit. This drives theproject above and beyond council's wildest dreams." Mr. Clark explained "the plans are easy to come up with, but the actual construction process ... I wouldn't want to hazard a guess. 'the sky's the limit. We can „meet Town police busyin 1974 There were 93 business premises found insecure in 1974 by members of the Wingham town police. This rather unset- - fling -•-statistic was presehtedc-tre Wingham town council as part of the Wingham Police Department annual report for 1974, compiled by Chief Robert F. Wittig and presented to council by William Harris, chairman .of the Police Committee. Councillor Harris underlined this particular statis- tic as "rather interesting; but..." and explained that each such incident necessitated notifying the owners of the business premises of the fact and making efforts to secure the premises once more. In the report Chief Wittig also presented statistics on regular police activities in 1974, including 1,358 occurrences and complaints attended to by the police, 277 summonses issued, 16 persons arrested, six -cars stolen and re- E covered and 515 parking tickets issued. Property damage due.to traffic accidents was reported as $42,780 in 116 accidents over the year. The department also re- covered $10,312.63 of $10,696.40 worth of property stolen during 1974. the conditions as far as I'm con- cerned, but the construction •pro- cesslmay be out of sight.. In order to get approved 'plans, the con- struction will cost us a fortune. That's in a nutshell what I'm tell- ing you." Council members' seemed flabbergasted by the ramifica- tions of Mr. Clark's report. An almost unanimous viewpoint on the matter was puts forward by Councillor Jack Bateson; "They won't do anything towards help- ing to restore it, yet they want all the say on how it's going to be done. That's ridiculous!" Town council must apply for and receive the rebuilding permit from the Ministry of Natural Re- sources under the regulations of the Lakes and Rivers Act. Failure to do so, Councillor Angus Mowbray explained, could result inheavy fines if town coun- cil were to. proceed with the repairs without a permit. Several alternatives were dis- cussed, including application to Huron -Bruce MPP Murray Gaunt for assistance. Several councillors suggested the possi- bility of once more applying to the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority on the issue. Councillor Mowbray elcplained that the Authority "said they wouldn't do it this year because if we went ahead with what we're doing, we just bypassed any chance of budgeting. They would have to wait until next year at the earliest if they were going to do it:" As it stands, the Authoirl� ceived authorization from members to negotiate Wittt ham on ownership of the 1 rehabilitation of the area "mutually acceptable" ,cam„ elusion. Accordingeto the mtbt of authorization at the annual meeting, howev', to Authority "will not guaraptee tie; reconstruction of the dat t " Council members were in- formed that the Autho ;ty' hlls suggested a feasibility study on the possibility of replaces e dam with a by-pass systeM of ponds. The cost of the study' 41100. was estimated .at $17 00NR'nf which Wngham would pay cent; if an agreement whore reached between- the Authority and the council. A long and anxious dis till8lOn of all the possible altenatives provided no concrete results -At the meeting. Council deelded;o proceed . with the plans, side nothing more could ready done at the time. • One injured in car mishap One person was injured last week when a car went off the road into a ditch and rolled over on Highway 86, west of the Mait- land River Bridge, Howick Town- ship. Driver Antonio Cerqueira of Kitchener was admitted to the Wingham and District Hospital and treated for lacerations to the hand prior to release. Damage to the car was estimated at $2,000. The Wingham detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police investigated three other acci- dents last week. A single -car accident occurred last Wednes- day on County Road 30, south -of Highway 97, Grey Township, when a car driven by Kenneth L. Kaye of Palmerston left the road and struck a pole. Damage was estimated at $400. Two accidents were investi- gated by the Wingham OPP on Friday. A collision .on County Road 30 at Concession 5-6, Howick Township, involved Douglas R. Garter of Bluevale and Bart Scherpenzeel of RR 1, Gerrie. Estimated damage was $1,000. The second accident oc- curred on Highway 86, east of the east junction road to Bluevale, Turnberry Township, when the car driven by Anita E. Mahe of RR 1, Bluevale left the south side of the road and rolled over into a ditch. Damage was estimated at $400. MARY BONGERTMAN receives her Tong-avyaited cap from Mrs. Daisy Connell at the capping ceremony for the Wingham and District Hospital candy -stripers Monday. Underground wiring. for new town subdivisions A new by-law was given first reading at a regular meeting of the Public Utilities Commission Friday. By-law 101, which will enter as PUC policy upon final reading, will make underground distribution systems madatory for all new subdivisions in Wingham and any area serviced by the Wingham PUC. The by- law will apply primarily to areas without overhead electrical dis- tribution. Costs for the new systems will be split for a two- thirds share by the subdivider and one-third to the PUC. The by- law isexpected to receive second and third readings at the next monthly meeting. A sub -section of By-law 101 was presented to Wingham town council at the Monday meeting. By-law 101-1 deals specifically with street lighting, which is a concern of the council. PUC representatives at the council meeting explained they hoped the entire PVC by-law would heenma part of the town's new building regulations when these are com- pleted. PUC Chairman Roy Ben- nett explained, however, that the by-law proposed by the PUC would become policy whether or not council decided to incor- porate it as a town by-law. In further business at the PUC meeting, Ken Saxton reported on a malfunction of the new pump, requiring the engine to be returned to Toronto for repairs. Mr. Saxton explained the prob- lem stemmed from a faulty bell housing, resulting in scoring of the rotor shaft and misalignment. The new equipment is still under the manufacturer's warranty. PUC members also received a letter from Ontario Hydro in- forming them that a charge of $20 would be made for requests for heat loss calculations. The charge will become effective April 1 and will be passed on to electrical contractors requesting this service. A computer readout on power purchased by the Wingham PUC from Ontario Hydro in 1974 in- dicated a substantial increase in costs from 1973. The statistical breakdown of the figures into increase due to higher Ontario Hydro fees and increase due to an increase ih customers or greater electrical use by existing cus- tomers was not provided. Power purchased in 1974 totalled $314,907 as compared to 1973 figures of $284,522. Total PUC expenses were $388,958 in 1974, only slightly higher than the 1973 figure of $352,815. kRevenue for 1974 at $421,620 was sub- stantially greater than the $374,556 quoted for 1973. The Wingham PUC provided 12,- 748,791 kilowatt hours in resi- dential service and 14,536,239 kilowatt hours in general service, with a total of 1,290 customers in 1974. Damage Iight in barn fire 'l'he Wingham Fire Depart- ment reported one fire call last Wednesday to Concession 5, lot 12 in Howick Township. The fire in the barn of John Van deKamp was started when a heat lamp fell into the straw. The fire chief esti- mated the damage at $100. —Mr. and Mrs. George Fisher spent the weekend with Mr. and Mrs. Bob Estey of Guelph and Mr. and Mrs. Carman Machan and Ross of Waterloo. THE U N I B LOOP E RS from Teeswater got laughs and ap- plause as they unicycled and cavorted at the Thursday night Lions' Talent Hunt. Underneath the costumes and makeup they are: Pat Steward, Sandra and Gail Thornpsc and Cathy McGlynn. ick planning meeti scribed as 'invaluabl Howick ratepayers, after heat- ing earing of the proposed Howick - ficial plan to be developed tiY Huron County planner Nick Hill, have shown their keen interest b3r offering their views in workshops during the _past few weeks. Huron County has an official plan. for the .entre region but sought to adapt it tb each Minitel; pality by giving each .a plan of its own. Mr. Hill toured the county to hear how residents felt about how they would like to see their area develop. Howick's seminars began Feb. 4 and concluded March 11. Topics covered includ- ed agriculture, natural re- sources, and development of the three villages of Gorrie, Ford- wich and Wroxeter., According to Mr. Hill the work- shops "have been invaluable They were very, very, lively," he said. AGRICULTURE Mr. Hill summarized this agri- cultural meeting by saying that the prevalent attitude was, "We're getting on with our job. We're doing okay."' Most agreed that agriculture in Howick has a promising future, although many recognized that problems facing farmers would be beyond the scope of the official plan. Specialization and largerfarm units were viewed as probable in the future with more crops for feed and less animal grazing. A number of residents however, saw the high price of land as slowing down amalgamation of farms. The present average farm acreage is 164 acres in Howick. City people buying farmland was not viewed as a problem since many of them rent out their land. Opinions varied on whether or not farmers should be able to separate pieces of land. Those who favored selling lots One week left in sweepstakes Beware the Ides of March! They mean only one more week of "Sweetheart Sweepstakes", and one week until that draw for the grand prize of $250 cash. The draw will be made on March 24 and entries will be accepted until that date. Last week's winners wasted no time in claiming their prizes . . an indication of the enthusiasm the contest has received. For Mrs. Clayton Baird of RR 2, Wingham, it's spring decorating time and thanks to the Decor Shoppe she has the wallpaper with which to do it. Bruce Robert- son of RR 1 Gorrie couldn't be luckier: he was a winner at the Ernie King Music Centre. The third winner last week was Harry Mulvey of RR 1, Wroxeter, who received a shopping voucher from Stainton Hardware. said that not only would this represent an economic advant- age to the farmer but that the rural population would increase which historically has declined over the last 50 years. One resident commented, "We sh9.04 encourageReo le to move the"t9 sod not altow- ing travail/trees of farm land for building is 'a mistake. We need more:people, not Less." But others said that allowing severancesfor cottages and summer homes could be disas- trous for the farming community. "City folk complain about the farm smells." - - Another comment was, "Other parts of Ontario are better suited for countryside cottages than we are. In Howick we are an agri cultural community and should keep it that way." Even those who favored rural urbanization stressed the need for caution in any policy adopted. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Some said that preserving the natural environment was necessary since everyone needs a break from the routine, including farmers. But one answered, "With all the farmland that is being lost today, it will be sore to look at the. natural environment on an empty stomach." Dan Mansell, district super- visor with the Ministry of Natural Resources told the gathering that because of Howick's large areas of forest cover, the township's water areas had a good potential for fishing. �.... Most of the residents ag* ed that development of . the areas would be prohibitively expensive and so Zxisting areas should be considered. Another resident made the point, "There is much forest land in Howick that could be cleared and cultivated. It. does not necessarily follow that where there is a forest the land is un- suitable for agriculture. Many of the woodlots in Howick were left purposely by the pioneers as a source of fuel." Most at the meeting concurred that, "You don't meet your neigh- bors down on the river. It's mainly city folk who enjoy a place by the river." Opinions were split right down the middle on the question of keeping the environment as a wilderness or developing it as a cottage resort area. Mr. 'Mansell commented that through certain examples he has learned that cottage area development can lead to the destruction of the natural en- vironment. Other participants however, said that Howick has many scenic areas that could be con- verted to cottage areas provil lir stringent guldeliues a iii advance x- -..., tO ti Ope tial of the mill ponds for recrea= tional areas is good. Cleared up they could be good for boating, bathing, and fishing. We have a lot of space in the villages for seasonal cottages." Another said, ''If you cluster cottages in one place they are no longer quiet _and peaceful. Let's spread out a little." GORRIE Participants in this :workshop . - said they felt the village should provide more jobs, although Gorrie is primarily a. residential community. "Gorrie must avoid becoming purely a residential village. We must develop the village as a vi- able, self-contained community, with house, business, services and jobs." Since there is an existing labor pool that is familiar with agri- culture in the village, most said that any new industry that might be attracted would be farm -re- lated. Taking into account the rapid development of southwestern Ontario in general, many said that Gorrie will also - grow, and residents should not, as -in the MRS. LOUISE WELWOOD pins Patricia Hoggart at the candy -stripper capping ceremony Monday. Patricia, who has been a volunteer worker at the Wingham and District Hospital since last October, also received a cap and stripe. past, expect little to hapFen. Concern was expressed that the core business ,district in the village was too small and resit• detitial areas • limited future' growth. But Howick Cowes:,Stec.A� .A • ltittire of 'farthing itife fay; M ►reu mat and, thus, a smallerrural popula- tion, I don't think the village•busii ness section will be able to Sup4 port a wide variety of stores. foresee . basically one grocery store, one hardware store, one furniture store, etc. . I don't think the business area will grow very much ii the future." One solution suggested was the establishment of an agri- culturally=oriented industrial park located next to the village.' Another proposed improve- ment mentioned during the meet- ing was the repair of the Gorrie Dam and adjacent park which was washed out in the spring, 1974 flood. Counc. Harold Hyndman who is also a member of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority said that repairs were scheduled for this spring. One concerned voice was heard, "We need a senior citi- zens' home in Gorrie. It is nice to retire in the community in which you have lived and not have to leave to go to a home in a town." Mr. Hill explained that the municipal council should request the Ontario Housing Corporation Please turn to Page 12 Day Care Centres plans suffer serious setback. Plans for the construction of the new Day Care Centre in Wingham may be handicapped by a misunderstanding between the Ministry of Community and Social Services and the Town of Wingham. The problem was ex- plained ata regular meeting of Winghanl town council Monday by Councillor Jack Gillespie, chairman of the Day Care Com- mittee. Councillor Gillespie said the Ministry was under the illusion that the town already owned property upon which the new centre would be constructed. The problem came to light when he visited the Ministry offices in Toronto last Friday, he said, and was informed that the 100 per cent grant to the town did not cover lot purchasing costs. Ministry spokesmen explained they had assumed the town was considering construction of the centre on the lot near the swim- ming pool and that their repre- sentatives had been told the town owned that land. Councillor Gillespie said the lot had been considered as the site of construction, but that no decision had been made. He said the lot near the pool is sufficient for present construction plans but would not permit any expansion in the future. The purchase of a lot for the day care centre was not covered by the grant allow- ance, he explained, and would be the responsibility of the town. He also explained that the Ministry had budgeted for an estimated $13,000 worth of fill for the lot near the swimming pool and that he had suggested the funds might be transferred toward the purchase of a dif- ferent lot. The Ministry, he said, was "toying with that possi- bility." In other business, council awarded ha grant of $50 to the Huron Plowmen's Association and approved payment of the town's levy to the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. Council also received notice of an increase in cost of plumbing permits to $20. Building permit applications received by council were referred to the Planning Board for consideration. Plans to close the road for construction on the Victoria St. bridge from June 1 to Sept. 31 were approved. Council also approved payment of general accounts totalling $62,- 089.74.